Railroad-rail coupling



L. C. BEAVER.

RAILROAD RML COUPLING.

APPLICATION mu) DEC. 12 1919.

1,349,607, Patented Aug. 17, 1920.

Iwuewn r LUTHER G. BEAVER, OF GULBEBSON, NORTH; GARDLINA.

m mosa-mm cou snmo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Batcnted Aug, 17, 192i).

Applioht'ion' filed- December 12, 1919. Sol-M1 110; 344,446.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LUTHER C. DEAvER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Culberson, in the county of Cherokee and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Rail Couplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in railroad rail couplers and has for one of its objects the provlsion of a locking plate secured to the railroad joint by a single fastening means and is provided with a series of locking elements adapted to fasten a plurality of bolts of the railroad joint thereby rendering a saving of time and labor in securing the parts of the joint together and also whereby the bolts are positively locked.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a railroad rail coupler of the above stated character, which shall be simple, durable and eflicient, and which may be manufactured and sold at a comparatively low cost.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a railroad rail joint illustrating a coupler applied thereto and constructed in accordance with my invention,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the locking plate illustrating the locking elements thereon,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the bolts used in the jolnt.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates as an entirety a railroad rail joint in which the ends 2 are arranged in abutting engagement with each other and are secured together by fish plates 3 provided with openings 3' to receive bolts 4 that extend through the web portions of the ends, of the rails. The bolts 4, have formed on one of their ends heads 5 while their other ends are provided with openings 6.

The joint 1 is provided with a locking bolt 7 provided with the usual screw threaded end and said bolt is arranged in a plane above the bolts 4 and at a point intermediate the series of bolts 4 and extends through a slot 8 of a locking plate 9. The locking plate 9 is secured to the joint by a lock nut 10 of any desired type threaded to the bolt 7. The lower edge of the locking plate 9 is provided with a series of locking elements 11 arranged in horizontal alinement with each other and are adapted to extend through the openings 6 in the bolts 4 so as to prevent the withdrawal of the bolts 4 from the joint 1. Some of the locking elements 11 are formed on the lower edge of the locking plate 9 by having the plate cut away as illustrated at 12 and which cutaway portions are in the form of notches having their upper walls 13 curved while their lower walls are disposed straight to form the locking elements 11. The locking elements 11 are rounded so that they can be readily inserted through the openings 6 in the bolts 4. One end of the locking plate 9 has formed thereon an extension 15 which is rounded to form a locking element similar to the locking elements 11 and is adapted to pass through the end bolt 5 of the series of bolts 4.

From the foregoing description it will be noted by removing the lock nut 10, the locking plate 9 may be shifted longitudinally in one direction to disengage the locking elements 1.1 from the bolts 4 and said locking plate then is free to be removed from the bolt 7. To disconnect the rails of the joints the bolts 4 and 7 are removed from the rails and fish plates freeing the rails so that they can be separated. It is further to be noted that the locking plate can be readily moved into a locking position bolts against withdrawal from the joint and also that the locking plate is held onto the joint by a single fastening means.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination, and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is A railroad coupler including a joint havto lock the various ing belts provided with openings, 1t lee-king plate, means (letzu-hnhly sevuring the locking plate to the joint, said locking plate having a series of netehes in its lower edge to form hnrizuntully disposed locking el ements adapted to extend through the openings of some of the halts, and :1 locking element termed en the end of the locking plate and in alinenient with the first named lockint, elements and adapted tu extend through 10 the openings in the end belt of the series of bolts.

In testimony whereof I. :tfiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LUTHER (I. DEAVER. Witnesses (J. L. BUTT, PAT .HARALSUN. 

